Golf club selector



Jan. 16, 1968 F. 5. LEE 3,363,836

GOLF CLUB SELECTOR Filed June 27, 1966 5n MARKOU mum mm,

'0 liNf-TN or HOlE 21mm pmcnu ms! sue? ause nus c'ws I. SET MARK ON GREEN RING j T0 LENGTH OF HOLE Jkc/srzv $2 I fgazzig zf M 5%? United States Patent ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A golf club selector and yardage indicator having three plates or disks rotatably mounted together with a back plate having a circular row of indicia adjacent the periphery of the disk indicating the length of the golf hole, an intermediate circular row of indicia indicating the yards remaining to the green and an inner circular row of indicia indicating the club recommended for the shot. The intermediate plate is transparent with an indicator showing at the periphery and a circular row of indi-cia indicating the total yardage previously covered on the hole, and the front plate includes a pair of windows for the covered yardage and remaining yardage and a triangular window indicating the club to be used depending on the wind condition.

Specification The present invention relates to a golf club selector and more particularly to an indicator to be carried by a golfer to aid him in selection of the proper club to use for his fairway shots to the green.

For the occasional or week-end golfer, the selection of the proper club to use on the fairway in approaching the green is generally a problem as such a golfer is not always certain of the distance which each of his clubs is capable of providing the impetus to the golf ball, especially under varying wind conditions. Thus, the occasional golfer would be aided by a device which will. assist him in club selection on the fairway or rough under a variety of conditions and allow him to improve his game.

Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a pocket size golf club selector which will provide the golfer with information as to the selection of the proper club, either wood or iron, to use for fairway shots depending upon the distance to the green fro-m the lie of the golf ball in the fairway or rough. The selector includes a base or back plate or disk and a pair of disks rotatably mounted thereon which can be adjusted to the required distance and indicate the proper club for the length of shot required.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a golf club selector which has settings for the length of the hole, the distance of the previous shot and the remaining distance to the green. These settings will be important to the golfer as it is not always easy to estimate the distance to the green as distances are sometimes deceptive due to time of day or the position of the sun or a hazard, a hill or valley or other obstruction may obscure the view of the green, or such may be merely due to infrequency of play. Thus, the golfer can make his club selection upon an estimate of the distance which the ball has travelled from the tee to its lie on the fairway or rough. Also, if the golfer is not accurate in estimating distances, the two settings may be used for the golfer to judge the relative distances of his shot from the tee to the fairway and the remaining distance to the green and thus arrive at a fairly accurate estimate for use of the selector as he knows the total yardage of the hole.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a golf club selector which will indicate the club to be used in a variety of conditions. Obviously, a golfer will not always be playing under ideal conditions as there Patented Jan. 16, 1968 may be a headwind, a tailwind or a crosswind. The golf ball which hit by a club will not travel as far in the face of a headwind than when there is no wind, and the same club will provide greater distance when there is a tailwind. Thus, the proper club is recommended on the selector for an ideal (no wind) condition and also for headwinds and tailwinds.

Further objects are to provide a construction and arrangement of maximum simplicity, efficiency, economy and ease of assembly and operation, and such further objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and are inherently possessed thereby.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of the golf club selector set for a particular club selection.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the back plate of the selector.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the transparent intermediate plate.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the front or instruction and window plate of the selector.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the selector taken on the line 55 of FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawing wherein is shown an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 discloses a pocket-size golf club selector 10 having a circular back plate or disk 11, a circular intermediate plate or disk 12 and a circular front window plate or disk 13. The intermediate disk 12 is formed of a transparent material, such as a suitable plastic, and is of a smaller diameter than the back disk 11, and the front disk 13 is of a smaller diameter than the intermediate disk; both the front and back disks being formed of a suitable cardboard or heavy paper or other suitable material. The three disks are joined together for free rotation about a common central axis by suitable means such as a rivet 14; all three disks having central openings 15 to receive the rivet 14.

The back disk 11 is provided with an outer circular row 16 of numerical indicia adjacent the periphery 17 of the disk and extending approximately two-thirds around the periphery 17. The indicia run from to 600 at intervals or increments of 25 and indicate the total length of the golf hole from tee to green. An intermediate circular row 18 of indicia is shown on the disk 11 approximately one-third of the radial distance from the periphery 17 to the opening 15. This row of indicia runs from 25 to 350 at increments of 25 with the indicia increasing in value in a clockwise direction as do the indicia of the outer row 16. A third double row 19 of numerical and letter indicia are shown radially inwardly of the row 18 and runs from 1 to 4 for wood clubs and from 1 to 9 and W for the various iron clubs and the wedge utilized for a game of golf. The bottom four indicia running from 1 to 4 shown in a contrasting color or type 21 are an indication of the use of wood clubs with the clubs varying in the angle of the impact face to provide varying degrees of loft and distance. The remaining indicia running from 1 to 9 and W relate to the iron clubs which also vary in the inclination of the club face to provide varying degrees of loft and distance as is well known to those playing golf. The indicia increase in number in a counterclockwise direction.

The intermediate disk 12 is formed of a transparent material having a peripheral ring 22 of a contrasting color with an arrow 23 imprinted thereon. The disk also includes a circular row 24 of numerical indicia spaced radially inwardly a short distance within the ring 22 with the indicia running in a counterclockwise direction from 0 to 300 at increments of 25. The row 24 on the disk 12 is positioned to fall between the rows 16 and 18 on the back disk when the disks are superimposed.

The front window disk 13 includes the printed instructions 25 for the selector and includes a window opening 26 at instruction 2 to indicate the length of the previous shot, the Window being aligned with the circular row 24 of indicia on the intermediate disk 12. A second window 27 is located below and to the left of window 26 and aligned with the circular row 18 of indicia indicating the yards remaining to the green. A third generally triangular window 23 is aligned with the double row 19 of indicia to indicate the club suggested for use in covering the remaining distance to the green. This window 28 is positioned below and inwardly of the window 27 and is opposite instruction 4. The window 28 is of generally triangular shape so as to include three indicia on the double row 19 which correspond to the suggested club to be used for the condition of (a) no wind, (b) tailwind and (c) headwind. These designations correspond to the generally known fact that for a condition of a headwind, the golfer should use the next lower club having less loft than that suggested for no wind, and for a condition of tailwind, the golfer should use the next higher club having greater loft than the club suggested for a no wind condition.

To use the selector, after the golfer has hit his tee shot and has reached his ball in the fairway, he follows the instructions by moving the arrow 23 on the intermediate disk 12 opposite the numeral in row 16 on the back disk 11 indicating the total yardage from tee to green. The golfer then estimates the distance of his last shot and moves the face disk 13 until this figure from row 24 on disk 12 appears in window 26. The distance remaining to the green then appears in window 27 and the suggested club appears in window 28. By determining the wind condition, the golfer may then select the proper club to reach the green.

As all the yardage indicia are shown in 25 yard increments, some slight approximations will have to be made if the distances do not come out exactly. Also, it can be seen that the golfer who cannot estimate distances accurately may also use this device by comparing the distance his ball is from the tee and from the. green. Then by setting the arrow at the total yardage of' the hole, he can move the disk 13 until comparative values are shown in windows 26 and 27 which generally correspond to the relative distances of the ball from the tee and from the green and select the proper club from the device.

If the golfer is a heavy hitter, he may consistently use one club less than prescribed, and if he is a light hitter, he may consistently require one club more than prescribed on the selector to obtain proper distance. i

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim:

1. A golf club selector comprising a circular back plate having an outer arcuate row of yardage indicia disposed at the periphery of the plate indicating the length of the hole in a range of from 100 to 600 yards, an intermediate arcuate row of indicia spaced from the outerrow indicating the remaining distance to the green in a range from 25 to 350 yards, and an inner arcuate double row of indicia, indicating the club to be selected, the identical values on the intermediate and outer rows of indicia being radially aligned and said arcuate rows all being concentric on the back plate, a circular intermediate transparent plate of a lesser diameter than and mounted concentrically on the back plate, an indicator on the intermediate plate at the periphery thereof adjacent the outer row of indicia on the back plate, and an arcuate row of indicia on the intermediate plate positioned intermediate the outer and intermediate rows of indicia on said back plate and concentric and spaced radially inwardly of the periphery of the intermediate plate, said row of indicia on the intermediate plate indicating the distance previously covered from the tee in a range from to 300 yards, said outer and intermediate rows of indicia on the back plate increasing in value in a clockwise direction while the row of indicia on the intermediate plate decreases in value in the clockwise direction, and a circular front plate of a lesser diameter and mounted concentrically on the intermediate and back plates, said front plate having a first window aligned with the row of indicia on the intermediate plate, a second window aligned with the intermediate row of indicia on the back plate and a third triangular window aligned with the inner double row of indicia on the back plate so as to expose three indicia from the double row.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,496,942 2/1950 Hill 235-88 2,808,206 10/1957 Gomez-Rodriguez 23588 3,034,713 5/1962 Kuzenko 235-78 3,232,531 7/1966 Hodge 235-78- STEPHEN I. TOMSKY, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON,Examiner.

S. A. WAL, Assistant Examiner. 

